Renting a car seat?

greeneyed_bride

DH, LO (10 months) and I are going on vacation in a week, and we'll be renting a car from Alamo at the airport. We were planning to bring DS's car seat as checked luggage, but I was a little worried about it getting damaged in transit. I just found out that we can rent a car seat from Alamo for $10 a day, so it would cost about the same as the fee to check our car seat if we brought it with us. Has anyone ever rented a car seat? Is it a good idea? I'm assuming they'd have to meet current safety standards, but I don't know if it's a better idea to bring our own and risk damage or rent a used one. Thoughts?

nanabanana06

I've flown a few times with Rosie. The car seat was always free to check it.

LadyXaverian

We had this debate with ourselves when we flew to Canada to visit my family this summer. We ended up taking our seat (and it was fine in transit). A few people told me that the rental seats can be kind of nasty. Also, the company we were going to rent with weren't able to guarantee a rear-facing convertible seat for us

Maybe someone else will have a more positive outlook for you.

insertclevername

I rented one and am not sure I would do it again. It was a cheapo economy carseat and they make you install it yourself. It was not easy as I was not familiar with the seat or the car. I was very nervous that it was installed incorrectly the entire time.

greeneyed_bride

Thanks, everyone! The car seat being gross and not knowing how to install it were my biggest concerns. DS is not a huge stroller fan, so I usually carry him in the Ergo and was only planning on bringing the umbrella stroller.

Nana_Osaki06:

I've flown a few times with Rosie. The car seat was always free to check it.

Thanks so much! I didn't realize that! Just checked Delta's website and it's free to check a car seat and stroller. Woo hoo! DS is due for a new seat soon anyway, so I guess if his car seat got a little banged up, it wouldn't be the end of the world. 

kwitt22

In a lot of vacation type destinations there are baby rental companies. You can rent strollers, cribs, rockers, high chairs and car seats. If you really don't want to bring it, i would google baby rental companies. I rented a high chair when we went to the beach last summer.

rboisvert

If you rent a seat pack a towel in your luggage.  Since often the lower end seats need a rolled up towel to level in rear-facing positions having one in your luggage  can help you install.  I rented one and was by myself with a 14 month old and it took me forever to find something to level it until I got to my destination and re-install it.  Also your seat if you take it might fit differently in your rental so having the towel may be helpful.  Also if you're a AAA member you may get your seat for free.  Bottom line travel and car seats suck no matter what you choose to do.

Brewtowngrl

check it.  See if you know anyone to borrow a bag from and then stuff that thing full with diapers and other gear since it is free to check.  

Court0026

We rented the first time we took both kids.  Well, DS was in his seat on the plane and we rented for DD.  SO awful.  Dirty and OLD.  I was so upset.  Ended up putting DS in the rental and DD (she was 5 months old) in the safer seat.  The next time we all flew, I bought cheap seats to just use as travel seats and checked them.  I wasn't willing to check our regular seats as our checked stroller came back a mess the one time we tried that.  

ATMmom324

Last tIme we vacationed we rented a seat and I would never do it again.  The seat was a cheap filthy piece of crap that wouldn't install rear facing properly.  

penguingrrl

I would neither rent a seat nor check a seat as both are very  risky. When you check a seat you run the risk of it being damaged and you not knowing. Just because there isn't visible damage to a seat doesn't mean there aren't small cracks from it being dropped, tossed or having heavy luggage fall on it in transit. And those small cracks can cause the seat to fail in a future accident (DH has his PhD in chemical engineering and much of it centers of polymers research and he explains it better than I can). In fact, a friend of mine had her minivan roll over three times. All three occupied seats looked pristine after the crash, but they were most certainly unsafe and could never be used again.

Renting a seat is also bad because you don't know the history of the seat. Not just whether it's been in an accident. Many baby rental places wash everything in bleach between rentals, which is fine for many items but not for carseats. Anything stronger than a mild detergent (dove) will degrade the harness and cause that to fail in a crash. Not to mention you never know what you'll get at the other end. As shown  in this post, you may get a great, perfect seat that fits your child correctly and can be used. But you may get one that's the wrong size/use for your child. I've known people whose only options upon arrival were an infant bucket or a backless booster and they had reserved seats for 2-3 year olds who can obviously use neither.